DR. KENNETH ROBERT DUFF

The family of DR. KENNETH ROBERT DUFF is saddened of the death on the 28th of January 2010 of their father, grandfather, storyteller and great friend. He lived a full and history laden life as an orthopedic surgeon, serving hundreds of patients from the shores of England after D Day, field hospitals in France and Germany to Warm Springs Foundation Hospital in Georgia, Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans and Memorial and St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston.He was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, on the 2nd of June 1913, where he lived in the history of the early Oklahoma having many Comanche friends who taught him Indian culture that only few have known. He was the only child of Luke Ralph and Willie Roberts Duff. He worked and learned every corner of the family business. Duff Hardware was the largest hardware store in southwestern Oklahoma. He was the first in his family to go to college and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1935. He attended Baylor College of Medicine in Dallas graduating with a Doctor of Medicine Degree in 1939. While attending OU, he was enrolled in Military Science which earned him a Second Lieutenant's Commission in Field Artillery and later a First Lieutenant's Commission as a Doctor of Medicine and later Captain in 1941. In January l942 he was ordered to the Brooke General Hospital in San Antonio and assigned to the Orthopedic Section gaining an Orthopedic Specialty assignment. In May 1942 he was ordered to report to the Station Hospital at Camp Swift located at Bastrop, Texas where he met Mary Pearl Erhard at a Sunday social. They were married in December l942 in Bastrop. The couple moved to San Antonio making it their home until September when his Group was ordered to Camp Shanks, N. J. to prepare for transfer overseas. On September 19, 1943, the Group boarded the liner Queen Mary in New York arriving at Goerk, Scotland five days later. By train the Group was moved to a small American Hospital located at North Mimms near Hatfield where they were billeted until sent out on detached service to various installations in the United Kingdom, later France and finally Germany after the peace was signed. He was discharged from the Army in 1945 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and returned home.After the war, Ken and Mary Pearl moved to Warm Springs, Georgia where he practiced at the Warm Springs Hospital for Rehabilitation in Warm Springs, Georgia. In September 1946 they had their first born, Robert Erhard Duff. Soon after, they moved to post war New Orleans living through a hurricane and apartment fire. Their last residence there was in a dormitory on the Sophie Newcomb campus where their newborn's diapers went through the Newcomb laundry. He practiced at the Ochsner Clinic, now Ochsner Foundation Hospital until 1949. Their final move was to Houston in 1950 where he practiced with Dr. Duncan McKeever for five years and then later on his own. Their second son John Bradley Duff was born in November 1950 at St. Joseph's Hospital. He and Mary were active members of the Church of St. John the Divine, where he served on the Junior Vestry, Vestry and sang in the Choir.Upon retirement from medicine in 1979, he and Mary traveled and painted together in Hawaii, Mexico and Europe. During that time he also SCUBA dived in all of the locations they painted. During retirement he was a docent at Bayou Bend in Houston, President of the Art League of Houston, The Plumeria Society of Houston and served as a Board Member of Holly Hall. In 1982 he enrolled at The University of Houston in the Fine Arts Department earning a Degree in Fine Arts to complete his passion for watercolor. He was an accomplished artist, poet and writer. He recently completed the story of a Comanche widow who traveled from California to Oklahoma in the late 19th century bringing her two sons back to their native roots so that they could convert to Christianity on their home soil.After the death of Mary in 1989, he moved to Laguna Nigel, California where he made many friends, painted and continued to dive. During that period he was a docent at the San Diego Museum of Fine Arts. In 1998 he moved to New Braunfels, Texas to be closer to his family. There he continued his painting and was welcomed by a cadre of neighbors and friends who cared for him dearly.He is survived by his son Bob and his daughters Haylie and Hilary, his son Brad and his wife Cheryl and their children Bradley, Jerry and Gretchen. He is also survived by a cousin Dennis Duff and wife Betty. He desired to thank Ruthie Mae Johnson of Houston for her devotion to him and Mary for 16 years while living in Houston. He also wanted to thank those who cared for him while in Christus Santa Rosa Hospital in New Braunfels; as well as those at Hermann Memorial in MICU and MIMU. He was so grateful for the sincere care and friendship given by his housekeeper Angie Guerrero and her son David both of New Braunfels, Texas.In accordance to his wishes, his remains were cremated and will be interred next to his wife of 43 years in Fairview Cemetery of Bastrop, Texas. The lively and rugged spirit of Dr. Ken Duff, "Kenky" to his family, will be sorely missed but never forgotten by those whom he touched and those who deeply loved him.In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that any remembrances be directed to the Bayou Bend Collection of Houston, 1 Westcott St., Houston, TX, 77007. -->